Reminder: Hugo Award voting is open now, but closing soon.
To all those of us with memberships for the 2013 World Science Fiction Convention...have you remembered to cast your vote for this year's Hugo Awards? Because if you haven't, you're sort of running out of time; July 31st is your last day to vote. And hey, did you know that anyone can nominate, and vote, for the Hugo Awards? All you have to do is become a Supporting Member of this year's World Science Fiction Convention, which costs $60, but gets you access to the entire Hugo Voter's Packet, a veritable cornucopia of incredible fiction! We're coming up on the end of the "I can reasonably make it through everything in the packet" period, so this is a choice that should be made soon!
The Book Smugglers hosted this amazing post about the Hugos, and I want to quote one bit that really stood out to me:
"I highly encourage everyone, especially people who believe, like I do, that there’s space for YA recognition, more women, non-white, and international voices, to look at the membership options and if joining the process and the conversation around it is possible, give it a shot. See if it’s worth investing in each year. Nominate the people and things you love. Vote for the stuff you think represents the best of genre, the best of all the things that the future science fiction and fantasy fandom should remember."
We can shape the future of the genre, everybody, and that's amazing.
I'm going to be upfront here: I'm on this ballot, and there's no way people are going to look at this post and not think I'm shaking the tree for votes. And I do want to win! I'm not exactly alone in that-I'm pretty sure each and every person on the ballot wants to win, because we accepted the nominations. Wanting to win is human. But almost as much as I want to win, I want to know that if I lose, it will be because every possible voter looked at the works up for consideration, looked at their ballot, and made their choice fairly and well. I want you all to vote. I want to lose because I lost, not because there was a sale at Ben and Jerry's and we all got rightfully distracted because dude, ice cream.
Please. If you are eligible to vote, it has never been easier to get a clear view of the entire ballot. Thanks to the tireless efforts of the Hugo committee, we have an electronic voting package that is a bibliophile's dream; you can read and consider absolutely everything that's asking for your vote. And if you're not a member yet, but were thinking about it, you can still register with full voting rights if you do it soon.
And because I really love this quote, I am once again quoting Cat Valente (with updates to the cost of supporting membership made by me). Specifically: "A final note: you do not have to go to Worldcon to nominate and vote for the Hugos. You can buy a supporting membership for $60 and get that perk. I realize $60 is a lot to express an opinion, but every year we hear complaints about the ballot and every year I hope that my generation will vote a little more, because the Hugos are kind of a bellwether for the field, and I want new crackly risktaking goodness in there, too. Since I have no control over the price of the supporting membership all I can say is-give it a thought, if you have the scratch."
Make this year's Hugo winners the ones you think deserve those shiny rocket ships.
Vote.
And if you need some testimony about the non-fiction parts of the ballot, here are a few links (links do support my views):
spectralbovine has posted about why you should vote Mark Oshiro for Best Fan Writer. Mark is an incredible human being, as well as being a remarkable fan writer and just plain fan. I am so glad to have met him.
Joshua Starr has posted about why Sheila Gilbert deserves your consideration for Best Long Form Editor. Sheila was my first editor. She has enriched my work and my career in ways I can't even begin to describe, and I'm going to make my own post very soon. The amount of work she does for her authors is staggering. She has my vote even when she's not on the ballot.
The Book Smugglers hosted this amazing post about the Hugos, and I want to quote one bit that really stood out to me:
"I highly encourage everyone, especially people who believe, like I do, that there’s space for YA recognition, more women, non-white, and international voices, to look at the membership options and if joining the process and the conversation around it is possible, give it a shot. See if it’s worth investing in each year. Nominate the people and things you love. Vote for the stuff you think represents the best of genre, the best of all the things that the future science fiction and fantasy fandom should remember."
We can shape the future of the genre, everybody, and that's amazing.
I'm going to be upfront here: I'm on this ballot, and there's no way people are going to look at this post and not think I'm shaking the tree for votes. And I do want to win! I'm not exactly alone in that-I'm pretty sure each and every person on the ballot wants to win, because we accepted the nominations. Wanting to win is human. But almost as much as I want to win, I want to know that if I lose, it will be because every possible voter looked at the works up for consideration, looked at their ballot, and made their choice fairly and well. I want you all to vote. I want to lose because I lost, not because there was a sale at Ben and Jerry's and we all got rightfully distracted because dude, ice cream.
Please. If you are eligible to vote, it has never been easier to get a clear view of the entire ballot. Thanks to the tireless efforts of the Hugo committee, we have an electronic voting package that is a bibliophile's dream; you can read and consider absolutely everything that's asking for your vote. And if you're not a member yet, but were thinking about it, you can still register with full voting rights if you do it soon.
And because I really love this quote, I am once again quoting Cat Valente (with updates to the cost of supporting membership made by me). Specifically: "A final note: you do not have to go to Worldcon to nominate and vote for the Hugos. You can buy a supporting membership for $60 and get that perk. I realize $60 is a lot to express an opinion, but every year we hear complaints about the ballot and every year I hope that my generation will vote a little more, because the Hugos are kind of a bellwether for the field, and I want new crackly risktaking goodness in there, too. Since I have no control over the price of the supporting membership all I can say is-give it a thought, if you have the scratch."
Make this year's Hugo winners the ones you think deserve those shiny rocket ships.
Vote.
And if you need some testimony about the non-fiction parts of the ballot, here are a few links (links do support my views):
spectralbovine has posted about why you should vote Mark Oshiro for Best Fan Writer. Mark is an incredible human being, as well as being a remarkable fan writer and just plain fan. I am so glad to have met him.
Joshua Starr has posted about why Sheila Gilbert deserves your consideration for Best Long Form Editor. Sheila was my first editor. She has enriched my work and my career in ways I can't even begin to describe, and I'm going to make my own post very soon. The amount of work she does for her authors is staggering. She has my vote even when she's not on the ballot.